More pets died on Delta than any other airline last year

Air travel can aggravate some pets’ health conditions. (Chronicle file)

The Consumerist reported that 35 pets died on U.S. carriers last year, with 19 of those on Delta flights.

The Atlanta-based airline transports 500,000 pet passengers a year and has banned smushed-face breeds like bulldogs since they often suffer from overheating. (Of the 16 pets that died on Delta flights the year before, six were bulldogs.)

A majority of the 2011 deaths occurred when pre-existing health conditions were aggravated by the stress of travel, the blog wrote.

“The loss of any pet is unacceptable to us,” Delta spokesman Anthony Black told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We are working to improve the processes and procedures to ensure that every pet arrives safely at its destination.”

Delta says it has a particularly high volume of pets compared with other airlines, and carriers like Southwest and AirTran do not take pets in their checked cargo at all, the newspaper said.